


Yak!fic

by blackrabbit42



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, Yak!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 22:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackrabbit42/pseuds/blackrabbit42
Summary: Jared wouldn’t keep Jensen as a yak just so he could pet him and stroke the short hairs on his nose, and sleep in the stable, back pressed up against Jensen’s warm and solid flank.  Of course not.  That was definitely crazy.





	Yak!fic

The sleeves of Jared’s robes dipped into the dark water over the side of the little rowboat, getting sopped and heavy, but he didn’t care. His eleven-year-old brain was laser beam focused on one thing, and it wasn’t the candle-lit windows in the castle that loomed magnificently on the far shore of the lake. It was the rowboat three boats ahead of his in the darkness, and the head of tousled hair that bobbed in and out of his view. 

Sure, getting his letter and finding out he was a wizard had been life-changing, and the idea of studying magic for the next seven years in an enchanted castle was great, but not exactly outside the limits of Jared’s imagination for how his life might go. But he’d never imagined something like Jensen, and nothing could have prepared him for the hit-right-in-the-gut suddenness of the fierce… something inside him when he first laid eyes on him. Jared vaguely suspected it was something bigger than he was really ready to examine, but he didn’t let that bother him. He’d just sat, staring unabashedly at Jensen’s beauty, and wondering if everything in the wizarding world was going to feel like this. 

Jensen wasn’t a from a muggle family like Jared’s. Jensen came from a wizarding family, and while he was proud to be going to Hogwarts, he was calm and composed. He answered Jared’s unending questions as best as he could with a patient attention that endeared him to Jared even more. 

“But how does it work?” Jared asked. “Is it haunted? Like, is it a ghost in there?”

Jensen shrugged. “I don’t really think so. It’s not a person, it’s just a hat.”

“But then how does it know? I mean, we have animatronics, but they can’t think and make decisions.”

“It just knows. Also, a lot of people say if you think really hard about where you want to be sorted, it takes that into consideration.”

Jared already knew which house he wanted to get into. There was a copy of Arithmancy, Practice and Theory, by Septimus Seigler open in Jensen’s lap when Jared first entered the train car, and you didn’t need to be a Ravenclaw to know one when you saw one. 

But somehow, they’d gotten separated when that huge guy was loading them onto the boats. Jared didn’t want to lose sight of his newfound friend, even for a moment. If he could just keep an eye on Jensen, he’d be able to catch up to him right away when they got out on the other shore. Just so long as….

There was gruff cry of “Hey! You there! Don’t—” and then all Jared could hear was the splash and rush of water closing over his head, as he toppled into the black, wet void of the lake. He had a moment to register that he could also hear voices singing, faint and far away, before a massive hand grabbed him by the back of his robes and hauled him back into the row boat. 

“Evr’y year,” the giant muttered, paddling back up to the head of the procession once he had seen Jared safely back in the stern. “Keep yer hands in the boat!” he called out to all the first years. 

Jared didn’t care. Among all the laughing faces in the boats that had momentarily circled ‘round, he saw one face lined with concern. He smiled sheepishly at Jensen, and gave him a thumbs up signal to let him know he was okay. 

The far shore was a scene of chaos when they arrived. Trunks headed one way, owls and cats another. The giant had his hands full keeping all the First Years together and pointed in the right direction once the horseless carriages arrived with the rest of the students, and Jared lost sight of Jensen just as a prim-looking witch with surprising strength put a hand on his back and steered him away from the rest with practiced efficiency. 

“This way, dear,” she said perfunctorily. “We’ll get you out of those wet robes. Do you know which is your trunk? Some sort of marker or tag? Anything unusual you packed that would only be in your trunk and no one else’s?”

Jared was still craning his neck, trying to see where Jensen was headed, but he was just another head in a sea of first years, headed for the Great Hall without him. Best to get this business over with quickly. He gave it a moment of thought. 

“My mom packed me some white chocolate macadamia nut cookies,” he said. “They’re in a Tupperware in my trunk.” He watched, fascinated as the witch pointed her wand at the growing mountain of trunks being unloaded on the train station and said “Accio Tupperware!”

Five trunks lifted off from the pile and came sailing through the air towards them. The witch rolled her eyes. “Muggles,” she muttered under her breath, then “Accio cookies!” and Jared’s trunk sorted itself from the other four and floated through the air towards them. “Locomotor,” she said, and Jared momentarily forgot his distress over being separated from Jensen as he watched his trunk obediently trundle along beside them up the cobblestone path to the castle. He paused and, for the first time, took a really good look at the castle looming before him. A grin took control of his face. This, he thought, is going to be awesome. 

++++++++

“Hurry,” the witch who had helped him said, pushing Jared through the doors of the great hall.  
“You just barely have time to make it!” 

She was right. A severe looking witch in emerald green tartan robes and pince-nez glasses was taking a battered old hat back up to the dais where all the teachers were sitting.

“Wait!” Jared yelled, and pelted down the center aisle up to the stool set at the head of the hall. “Sort me!” A pattering of laughter followed him up the row, but he didn’t care, he was concentrating on focusing his thoughts. He understood about wishing… you had to be very specific and very clear. By the time he threw himself onto the stool and crammed the hat on his head, he had only one crystal clear thought. Ravenclaw, he thought, I want to be a Ravenclaw. 

He heard a quiet chuckle in his ear. “Is that so?” asked the Sorting Hat. “Because sometimes we think we know what we want, but we don’t have all the fac—”

“Ravenclaw,” Jared responded firmly. Eyes closed, he continued to concentrate on that one thought. 

“If you say so,” the hat said, and then out loud, “RAVENCLAW!”

Jared sagged with relief and hopped down off the stool, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. He trotted over to the blue and bronze festooned table, scanning for Jensen. His steps faltered. He looked up and down the length of the table. No Jensen. Maybe he’d been late too, for some reason? Ackles… he should have been one of the first to get sorted. A terrible sinking feeling began pulling at his stomach. He stopped and slowly turned, eyes travelling over the other tables each in turn, and landed, to his dismay, on the face of Jensen. Who was looking back at him, eyes full of disappointment, from the Hufflepuff table. 

++++++++ 

All things considered, being a Ravenclaw hadn’t worked out all that badly for Jared. He wasn’t the most brilliant wizard ever to be assigned to Ravenclaw, but he wasn’t the worst either. There were plenty of others who had been sorted to Ravenclaw for reasons that had nothing to do with academic talent. 

It was probably good for him to be in a more academically-focused house. He passed all his O.W.L.s with E’s and even an O in arithmancy, which was Jensen’s favorite subject, but which Jared discovered a surprising aptitude for in himself. 

And just because he had to sleep in the Ravenclaw tower didn’t mean he never got to see Jensen. They ate together in the Great Hall, studied together in the Library, and cheered together for the Hogwarts Unaffiliated Team at the quidditch matches. 

And occasionally, when they were really, really lucky, they had classes together. For example, like today, when both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had Transfigurations together. Not Jared’s best subject, but having Jensen as a study partner really helped. 

Today was the first day they would actually be transfiguring their partners. And if you don’t think that Jared had been getting tutoring on the side from his fellow Ravenclaws to make sure that there would be no possible way he could harm Jensen, then you haven’t been paying attention. It was kind of a house project at this point. Ashley Riverwind had volunteered to act as guinea pig the night before, and Jared had successfully transfigured her into a giraffe three times, so he was feeling pretty confident. To his credit, Jensen didn’t look the least bit nervous. Jared’s heart did a sort of sideways lurch, thinking about Jensen trusting him like that. It didn’t even occur to Jared to be nervous on his own behalf. 

“To start,” Professor McGonagall was saying, “it will help if you choose an animal that embodies at least some of the qualities of the person you are trying to transfigure. For example, if you are not sure of your abilities, and you want to practice before you try the spell out on your partner, you may practice on Professor Longbottom, who has graciously volunteered his services today. You’ll find turning him into a hare a relatively easy matter, as he is quick witted, has a cheerful disposition, and has a special affinity for the gardens at Hogwarts.” 

Professor Longbottom took an ostentatious bite of the carrot he was holding, and nodded agreeably. 

Jared had been concentrating so much on the spell itself, he hadn’t had time to even consider what he might choose to transfigure Jensen into. “You go first,” he stage-whispered to Jensen, who was skimming ahead on the next chapter in their text. Jensen had mastered the spell weeks ago. 

“And remember, the counterspell, the ability to transfigure your partner back is just as important. Do not try unless you are absolutely certain in your abilities. It’s better to keep practicing if you need to. No shame whatsoever. Off you go! Show me what you can do.”

“You ready?” Jensen asked, closing his book. He turned his gaze on Jared, and Jared thought, oh, yes, I’ve been ready a long time, Jensen. 

“Do you have any requests? Anything you’ve always wanted to be?” Jensen looked genuinely curious. It was always a source of wonder to Jared that as much as he lived and breathed for Jensen, Jensen always acted like he, Jared, were the most fascinating creature on earth, even all these years later, when the novelty of Jared’s Muggle-born heritage had worn off. 

Jared’s voice caught in his throat a moment. “I—” he stopped and cleared his throat, but still could only manage a husky whisper, “I want to see what you think of.”

“Anything?” Jensen asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. 

Jared swallowed hard, then nodded. “I trust you.”

Jensen laughed. “No need to be so serious, I’m really thinking more in terms of hair styles.”

Jared only had a moment to raise a hand up to the nape of his neck, but the protective hand he held over his pony tail was no match for Jensen’s incantation. 

Jensen waved his wand, and Jared felt the zing of the spell pass through him. Like many spells that affected the corporeal body, transfiguration was purported to hurt, and yeah, it did. It felt a bit like every atom in his body suddenly jumped up in shock, separated from the rest of his body, and start spinning at supersonic speeds. He felt a tremendous crushing, squeezing pressure, and through the swirly chaos that enveloped him, he saw Jensen’s face growing farther and farther away. 

He was shrinking. Compressing down to a much smaller size, and a radically different shape. He’d seen transfiguration before, it appeared to happen instantaneously, a second or two at most, but this agony seemed to be going on far longer.

And suddenly as it began, the pain vanished, and Jared felt his body settle. It felt… amazing. He felt wiggly and full of energy and lithe and… whippet-like. He didn’t need to examine his new sleek grey coat and silky ears to know what he was. He was a whippet. A dog. A little dog, with short hair. But it felt right. It felt like what he should be. He gave a loud, happy bark, and took off around the perimeter of the classroom, causing Professor McGonagall to snatch up Professor Longbottom possessively in her arms, as he had already been transformed into a hare by one nervous student. 

Claws skidding on the marble floor, he completed the circuit back to his desk. He looked up at Jensen’s face and saw a smile there, and could not hold back. A surge of love swept over him and he leapt up into Jensen’s arms, wiggling and squirming and nosing all among Jensen’s robes. Then Jensen’s hands were on him, sliding over Jared’s fur, fingers finding all the UH-MAZ-ING ticklish spots, between his ribs, behind his ears, oh god, the oh-so-wrong-intense-prickle-pleasure when Jensen rubbed his fur the opposite way. 

Jared was on his back in Jensen’s lap before he knew it, offering up the tender part of his belly for rubs and oooohhhhh, yeah, that’s the spot and—

“That’s probably enough,” Professor McGonagall said, her jaw tight. She hadn’t softened up at all since she retired as Headmaster and resumed her post as transfigurations professor. 

Jensen gave Jared’s belly one last exquisite rub, and then waved his wand to untransfigure. Inexplicably, it hurt more to return to his original size and shape. Jared leapt off Jensen’s lap with a completely undignified squeak once the process was complete, but not before noticing that Jensen’s hand had remained on his belly throughout the transformation, and two of his fingers had slid to where Jared’s shirt had pulled up out of his trousers. 

“Mr. Ackles, perhaps something a little less like Mr. Padalecki would have sufficed,” McGonagall scolded. “But very nice job on the transfiguration. Ten points to Hufflepuff. It’s nice to know that someone has been doing their homework for this class.” She turned away, correcting the wand position of the student nearest her, and admonishing another to concentrate, and perhaps they could all just avoid choosing some of the noisier animals, as she was developing a headache. 

“Your turn,” Jensen urged. Jared would have liked to have about another three days to just pause and process the whole thing and dissect exactly what it meant that Jensen chose to transform him into a smallish hyperactive dog with short hair, and to relive the whole tickling and stroking and rubbing thing, and also replay the feel of Jensen’s fingers on his bare skin about fifty thousand times, but Jensen was staring at him expectantly, and the complete look of trust on his face made Jared want to prove something. 

Okay, so he had something. A quiet animal, but impressive. And if Jensen was going to get digs in about hair styles like that, then, then turnabout was fair play. He stepped back a bit. 

“Ready?” he asked. 

Jensen nodded, and it was too late to stop the forward motion of his wand by the time Jared’s brain processed how completely trusting Jensen was in this moment, and that maybe a large wild yak wasn’t the absolutely best choice for his first cross-species transfiguration. 

++++++++ 

Three days later, Jared returned from his third trip to McGonagall’s office, defeated. Jensen was out in the paddock overlooking the lake, grazing. The sight of Jensen with his nose buried in the grass filled Jared with renewed guilt. 

“No luck,” he said, rubbing Jensen’s shaggy forehead with the palm of his hand. Jensen leaned into the touch, and Jared dug his fingers into his forelock, tugging affectionately. “Not only did she refuse to help me turn you back, she has also forbade anyone from Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff to help us. She threatened to flunk everyone. I’m so, so sorry, Jen.”

Of course, Jensen couldn’t talk, couldn’t tell Jared if he was pissed off or not, but he seemed to be taking the whole thing rather patiently. He’d settled into the thestral stable without any big fuss, which, thank goodness. He could have eviscerated Jared with one twist of his massive, curved horns. Or trampled him. Or, less violent, but no less hurtful, turned his back on Jared altogether. But he hadn’t. 

Jared stepped around to Jensen’s massive flank, and sank his fingers into his thick, wooly coat. He scratched the spot right behind Jensen’s withers, earning a groan from deep within Jensen’s bovine chest. Jensen swiveled his head around and nuzzled Jared’s knee. He totally didn’t deserve a friend like Jensen. This was ridiculous. He’d been a yak for three whole days, you would think his patience would be wearing pretty thin by now. 

At least McGonagall had agreed not to tell Jensen’s parents yet. She was hell-bent on teaching Jared a lesson, and determined that Jared would be the one to untransfigure Jensen, and if Mr. and Mrs. Ackles were to show up at the school, no doubt Jensen would be Jensen again in no time flat. Although they loved Jared, he had the feeling that his holiday sleepovers at the Ackles’ house would be a lot more awkward if they ever found out about this. 

He just needed to get his confidence back. And get his Jensen back, of course. But confidence was the main thing, Jared was sure. It’s just that… this was Jensen he was talking about, and Jared should have never been fooling around like this, he should have turned him into something normal, like a hedgehog, or an owl, or anything even remotely reasonable. Instead, Jared had chosen to make a joke, and the guilt he felt when he thought of how it could have gone very, very horribly wrong since he wasn’t taking it seriously… 

He was spinning his wheels, these thoughts circling around in his head over and over. He rested his forehead on Jensen’s back, burying his face in the musky scent of yak. He missed Jensen so much, but also… no. That was stupid. All this… touching that he was allowed to do had nothing to do with it, right? That was crazy. He wouldn’t keep Jensen as a yak just so he could pet him and stroke the short hairs on his nose, and sleep in the stable, back pressed up against Jensen’s warm and solid flank. Of course not. That was definitely crazy.

Besides, yaks produced a tremendous amount of gas. And Jared was sure that Jensen was totally mortified with the… bathroom situation. He would never in a million years do that to his friend, his best friend, no matter how beautiful the long lashes over his huge yak eyes were. 

If only it didn’t hurt so much to untransfigure. Jared thought that if he wasn’t so worried about hurting Jensen like that, he might be able to get over his crisis of confidence. 

“Hey,” he said, “I almost forgot. The Hufflepuff house elves wanted me to give you these.” He held out a pear in his palm, which Jensen took with surprising dexterity and dignity in his mouth and crunched away happily. Jared fed him two more, relishing the tickly feel of Jensen’s tickly muzzle in his hand. He stroked Jensen’s right horn pensively while he chewed. It was impressively long and beautifully curved, and it was exactly like Jensen to be a perfect specimen of a yak, and why did he himself have to be such a screw up?

Jensen tossed Jared’s hand away with a twist of his mighty head, and then pressed his forehead into Jared’s chest, nudging him gently. 

“Alright, alright,” Jared said. It was time for homework. He’d been attending as many of Jensen’s classes as possible, and doing all of his homework. He suspected the teachers who favored Jensen were assigning less work than usual, but still. He was reading Jensen’s textbooks out loud to him at night, and damn if they didn’t have the best educated stable of thestrals in all of England. 

Back at the barn, Jared took a few moments to make sure the stall where he and Jensen slept was clean and fresh, refilled Jensen’s water bucket and fluffed the straw a bit. Jensen settled down in the clean, sweet-smelling bedding, waiting patiently while Jared sorted through their books. 

“Okay, looks like Professor Longbottom assigned an unusually long reading tonight, better get started with that.” He took out Jensen’s herbology text and got comfortable on the floor, back pressed up against Jensen’s flank. It wasn’t good how comfortable this felt, the warmth of Jensen’s woolly hide, the feel of his slow, ponderous heartbeat thudding against Jared’s back. He picked a few stray bits of hay off of Jensen’s fetlock. 

Maybe they’d do a few tries tonight, after homework. Up till now, Jared had worked hard, memorizing the wand motions, meditating, getting into the right mental state. But when he stood in front of Jensen and looked into his trusting yak face, he could do little more than raise the wand. It was better to wait than to get it wrong. Right? Of course right. 

“Pages five hundred and forty-two through five hundred and forty-thre—” Jared frowned, and peered closer. He could have sworn the assignment had been one hundred and one pages. One page? What professor assigned one page of reading for homework? He turned to page Five hundred and forty-two of Advanced Herbology; Theoretical Models of Botanical Constructs. It was a full color plate, a picture of pears. The caption read: Pirum piperimentham, mature specimen. Native to Western Europe and parts of the New World. Effective agent for change and transformation. Difficult to cultivate, but excellent for spells that require precise, reliable results. 

Jared flipped the page, devouring every word. Peppermint pears? 

“Jensen, let me smell your breath.” 

Jensen swung his head around obediently, and huffed a breath towards Jared’s face. Yes. Sweet like fresh grass and hay, the tang of pears, with just a hint of mint. Jared smiled. McGonagall couldn’t very well flunk Professor Longbottom, could she?

++++++++

It had been four days since Jared untransfigured Jensen. After helping Jensen collect his books and move back into the Hufflepuff dormitory, stuttering apologies and not really believing Jensen’s reassurances that there were no hard feelings, he’d hidden himself away in the Ravenclaw tower. 

Jensen had sent an owl to the tower every morning. Get over it dude. It wasn’t that bad. I totally get it man, no worries. Then this morning: I miss you. Come on, Jay, enough is enough. 

He missed Jensen like fire too, but there was something Jared wanted to do first. Maybe it was dumb, but it felt right, and it felt important to do something. He thought of the feeling of Jensen’s fingers stroking the short, bristly hairs on his whippet coat, how much he loved that shivery touch. How Jensen had chosen that for him. He took a deep breath. He was going to do it. 

“Secare capillum,” he said, and performed a flick and rotate sequence with his wand, concentrating very hard on not severing his own ears. When the magic cleared, he didn’t need a mirror to see the result of his spell, he could feel it. His head felt strangely light, and when he swiveled his head experimentally back and forth, there was a conspicuous absence of accompanying swish. He’d done it. His hair was short. Very short. Well, he thought, running his fingers over his shorn head, a little long on top, just enough to tousle. 

He had very specific ideas about who he wanted to tousle that hair. 

++++++++

As he stepped through the doorway of the library, Jared noticed something he hadn’t ever thought of before. Through the windows, he could see moonlight glinting on the surface of the lake. The library was quiet and candlelit, students bent over their work. This was one of the golden glowing windows he would have seen on the boat ride his first year here. He thought back to that day, how excited he had been about the adventure that lay in front of him, and the prospect of sharing it with Jensen. 

He kind of felt that same way tonight. 

He found Jensen in the library, cramming for his transfiguration exam. McGonagall wasn’t letting them off the hook for missing classes while Jensen was a yak. He looked up sharply when Jared spoke his name, as if he’d been on alert, waiting for it. 

“Oh, Jared,” Jensen said softly. He stood, not able to tear his eyes away from what Jared had done. He got it. Jared could tell, he didn’t need to say anything. Jensen got it. 

“I’m so sorry, Jensen,” Jared said, even though he knew he never needed to say that again. 

“C’mere.” Jensen swallowed hard, his voice choked around a lump in his throat. “Let me feel.” 

Jared closed the distance between them and then closed his eyes. He put his forehead down on Jensen’s forehead. And yeah, there it was, that amazing sensation of Jensen lightly running his fingers through the short hairs at the back of Jared’s neck. Jared decided he would live here now, thank you very much. 

“I was just afraid,” Jared said. 

“I know,” Jensen said, continuing to stroke.

“And I kind of liked you as a yak,” Jared said.

“I know,” Jensen answered. “I kind of liked it too.” He paused, then added, “But I’m not growing my hair out for you.”

Jared closed his eyes. “Can I?” he asked, putting his hands on Jensen’s waist.

Jensen beat him to it. His lips were on Jared’s soft, somehow familiar, even though it was their first. “Ten points to Ravenclaw,” Jensen whispered. 

A grin crept over Jared’s face. This, he thought, is going to be awesome.


End file.
